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Chapter 2: Experiencing Night and Day
“These things shouldn’t exist,” I said to the Wargs.
“The leaves are pink and the moss is orange,” T said with a hint of a smile. He had his makeshift spear pointed at one of the dog-like creatures.
I slowly reached down for a stick, rock, or twig to defend myself with when T made a loud bellowing noise and moved a little toward one of the Wargs. I swear it laughed at him.
The light changed suddenly. It went from daylight to night in a blink and suddenly the forest was alive with clicking and chirps.
The wargs howled and ran away.
I turned to T and said, “Anything that scares those things is bad news for us.”
“It… It laughed at me,” T said before adding, “How rude.” He put his spear on his shoulder like a baseball player. “You’re right. Let’s find some shelter.”
There was a large hill or small mountain in the distance and we both decided to head that way, hoping that we wouldn’t encounter anything else.
It was surprisingly easy to see despite the sun having set. When I looked up at the moon, I was so shocked by the quantity of stars I stopped walking.
“Why did you stop?” T said and then followed my gaze. He swore in his language and I didn’t blame him.
The stars should have been like pinpricks in a canopy; instead I was treated to glorious lights that almost merged together. I wished I could remember why this was making me feel so awestruck. Was this stranger than the night sky where I was from?
“We should keep moving,” I said, feeling very small and very lost.
The hill turned out to be bigger, and farther than we expected. I glanced up every once in a while and noticed the stars were moving.
“How long have we been walking?” asked T.
I shrugged and said, “I have no idea. Maybe an hour. Why? Do you need a break?”
He laughed and replied, “No, but either the sky’s broken or it’s already dawn.”
“How can the sky be broken?” I asked and shuddered. Something about that sentence scared me and I hated not knowing why.
The sun rose and we heard a scream. Both of us, without hesitation, ran towards the scream. That told me we were both the type of people who wanted to help, or needed to sate our curiosity.
I was expecting to find someone being attacked but instead we found two people, in the same mustard yellow prison outfits, writhing on the ground. It was the same thing that had happened to us when we’d tried to access some sort of powers, which meant the two were going to be okay.
The first was a beautiful brunette with pale skin and a W on her shirt. She radiated power and my instincts told me that she was dangerous. I didn’t want to startle her even if she couldn’t access her power yet.
The second was a white man with silver hair and an A on his shirt. He felt powerful, but in a completely different way. As he lay on the ground, I saw tiny sparks of electricity shooting from his body.
When the two stopped flopping around, T demanded, “Who are you?”
“I have no clue and I really hate that,” said the woman.
“I woke up with no memory,” said the man. “I started walking through the forest. I figured I could see better from the top of the mountain. Then I walked into her and we both fell to the ground.”
I offered the woman my hand and she gave me an annoyed glance before saying, “If me touching him caused us to fall to the ground, why would it be different for you?”
Shrugging, I said, “Can’t know if we don’t try.”
She took my hand and the same pain as when T and I had tried to use our powers wracked my body. This time I stayed standing. The pain wasn’t as overwhelming as the first time.
When I opened my eyes the woman was staring at me like I was a puzzle she could put together. “Did you know that it would be easier the second time?”
“No, but knowledge requires repetition.”
She stood up and the four of us sized each other up, trying to find some sort of answers. The woman was the first to speak. “I think A’s idea of going up the mountain for a better view is a good idea.”
“What, just because we all have memory loss and matching outfits, you think we should travel together?” T said.
The woman stood tall and said, “Yes. We’ll live longer together than apart.”
“Dude, she’s got a point,” added A as he dusted the dirt off his pants.
T waited for me and when I nodded, sighed and said, “Sure, why not.”
“Dude! You’re a suspicious little man,” A laughed and followed W, who’d already started walking up the mountain.
“Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean someone isn’t out to get you,” mumbled T as he joined the group.
I followed behind and was hit with a sense of dread. Something, beyond the weird world and lack of memory, wasn’t right.
The feeling didn’t go away but also didn’t get any stronger. I wondered if I was an anxious person or if I had some sort of magical danger radar.
As we climbed, the light changed again, and W asked, “I feel like we’ve been climbing for hours. Why aren’t I hungry or thirsty?”
It was a good question, but we didn’t get a chance to think about it before we heard the sound of wings. From above came a cloud of luminescent bats. They quickly got bigger and bigger until it was obvious that they were larger than we were and there were hundreds of them.
Read Chapter 3 (March 2026)
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